Sir Alan Edgar Walker (4 June 191129 January 2003) was an Australian theologian, evangelist, social commentator, broadcaster and activist, and the Superintendent of Wesley Mission (formerly the Central Methodist Mission).

Career

Alan Walker was involved in the formation of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

in 1948. He was superintendent of the

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

(later

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Union ...

)

Wesley Mission Wesley Mission is a name used by three independent Uniting Church groups which are a part of the Uniting Missions Network of UnitingCare Australia. These predominantly grew out of inner city ''Central Methodist Missions'' of the Methodist Church ...

, Pitt Street,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 1958–1978 and one of the founders of the

National Christian Youth Convention {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The National Christian Youth Convention (NCYC) is a national conference for people aged 16–30 years held by the Uniting Church in Australia every second January. It is held in a different Australian city each ti ...

(NCYC) in 1955 and Lifeline in 1963. He was first world director of evangelism for the

World Methodist Council The World Methodist Council (WMC), founded in 1881, is a consultative body and association of churches in the Methodist tradition. It comprises 80 member denominations in 138 countries which together represent an estimated 80 million people; this ...

, 1978 to 1988. He was involved in founding the World Methodist Evangelism Institute (located at the

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

-related

Candler School of Theology Candler School of Theology is one of seven graduate schools at Emory University, located in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. A university-based school of theology, Candler educates ministers, scholars of religion and other leaders. It is also one ...

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

) in Atlanta, 1982. He was principal of the Pacific College of Evangelism, now the Alan Walker College of Evangelism, in Sydney, 1989-1995. Following the closure of the Alan Walker College the Uniting Theological College in Sydney has been home to the Alan Walker Lectureship in Mission and Evangelism.

Lifeline

Walker launched Lifeline in

, Australia in 1963 after a call from a distressed man who three days later killed himself. Walker launched a crisis line which initially operated out of the

Methodist Central Mission Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

in Sydney. Lifeline Sydney was two years in planning and preparation, with 150 people attending a nine-month training course to work at the Centre. A century old, dilapidated building owned by the Mission, on the fringes of downtown Sydney was renovated for the purposes of this new support centre. A staff of full-time employees was appointed to direct the work of these new telephone crisis support workers. The Director General of Post and Telephone Services authorised that this crisis support service should be listed on the Emergency Page of the Telephone Directory and the phones were installed. March 1963 saw the opening of the first official Lifeline Centre. The initiative was well received with over 100 calls for help being answered on the first day. In its 50th year, Lifeline had over 11,000 volunteers and spoke to more than 500,000 people in crisis annually.(Lifeline Australia Annual Report 2011/12)

Honours and awards

* 1955:

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) * 1981:

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...

* 1986:

World Methodist Peace Award The World Methodist Peace Award is a peace award. It was established by Dr. Stanley Leyland at the 1976 13th World Methodist Conference in Dublin and is awarded by the World Methodist Council. Recipients 1970s * 1977: Saidie Patterson, Northe ...

* 1997: Named as one of 100 people as an Australian Living Treasure * 2001:

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or go ...

Personal life

Walker was born in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

on 4 June 1911 to the Reverend Alfred Edgar Walker (1877—1966) and Violet Louisa Walker (née Lavis) (1881—1971). He was married to Winifred Walker (later Lady Walker) (1916–2006) and they had four children, Lynette Sue, Rev Bruce Walker, David Walker and Rev Christopher Walker. He died in 2003, at an aged care centre on Sydney's North Shore, aged 91.Remembering Sir Alan Walker

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, 2 February 2003

Biographies

* Don Wright, ''Alan Walker: Conscience of the Nation'', Sydney: Open Book Publishers, 1997. . * Harold Henderson, ''Reach for the World: The Alan Walker Story'', Nashville, Tennessee: Discipleship Resources, 1981.

References

External links

Alan Walker College of Evangelism

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20040516203233/http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/relrpt/stories/s1013622.htm ''Alan Walker Remembered'', ABC Radio International's ''The Religion Report''
''Alan Walker: A Many-Faceted Man Of God'', John Mark Ministries

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20130524221228/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1420576/The-Reverend-Sir-Alan-Walker.html The Reverend Sir Alan Walker ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 31 January 2003 {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Alan 1911 births 2003 deaths Arminian theologians Arminian ministers Australian Christian theologians Australian Knights Bachelor Australian Methodist ministers Australian Officers of the Order of the British Empire Australian Protestant religious leaders Methodist evangelists Methodist theologians Recipients of the Centenary Medal Uniting Church in Australia people